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Rhino Befriends Warthog Family

Analysis by Jennifer Viegas
Thu Dec 17, 2009 02:23 PM ET
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My Christmas card this year from Johnny Rodrigues, chairman for the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, came with the below unexpected, pleasant surprise.

Winken, blinken and nod

The above photo shows Tatenda, a male black rhino, on the left. Tatenda's mother was gunned down by poachers when he was just 6 months old. He was adopted at that time by John and Judy Travers, who still care for Tatenda at their Imire Safari Ranch in Zimbabwe.

Tatenda made an unusual friend at the ranch, Hogwash the warthog. So when Hogwash recently gave birth to three piglets, the Travers looked forward to introducing them to Tatenda.

Johnny told me Hogwash had different plans. She hid her babies in a burrow. Each time that ranch staff discovered the burrow, Hogwash would move her piglets to a new burrow.

"For two months, she visited the rhino pens to find food, but she came alone," Johnny said.

"Then recently, all of the sudden, Hogwash trotted up to Shanu (a female rhino) and Tatenda followed by three tiny piglets who have been named Winken, Blinken and Nod."

He added, "Shanu and Tatenda have happily accepted the new additions to their family."

Tags: Animal Behavior, Mammals, Weird News, Wildlife Conservation

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